


Shadows

by arbeana



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Mentioned Draco Malfoy, Mentioned James Potter, Mentioned Lily Evans Potter, Mentioned Severus Snape, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin Raise Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:01:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24594238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arbeana/pseuds/arbeana
Summary: At first, Sirius found it very difficult to see Harry as anything other than the son of his two dead friends.
Relationships: Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 16
Kudos: 201





	Shadows

At first, Sirius found it very difficult to see Harry as anything other than the son of his two dead friends. Harry’s hair was James’ hair, Harry’s eyes were Lily’s eyes. When Harry woke up crying in the middle of the night, Sirius imagined he was screaming out for his parents, just as Sirius himself wanted to. When Sirius bent over Harry’s crib to console him, he thought he could see the shadows of his friends in the curve of Harry’s nose, in the smile that stretched across Harry’s face when he finally saw Sirius.

When Harry was four, Sirius called him Prongslet. The nickname started when Lily was pregnant, and Sirius predicted that the baby would be a little mini Prongs, and had continued over the years. But one day, after an afternoon of riding around on Padfoot’s shaggy back, Harry told Sirius, with as much conviction as a four-year-old can manage, “When I grow up, I’m gonna be a big dog, just like you.” Sirius laughed once, loudly, and from that day on he called Harry Puppy instead.

When Harry was five, he came back from the park with Remus to announce that he had made a new best friend, and his name was Draco Malfoy. Sirius was horrified to know that the Malfoys had infiltrated Harry’s life so early, and he tried to tease Harry about it at dinner by asking, “Since when do you get along with Slytherins?” Remus rolled his eyes, and Harry put down his fork to ask, “What’s a Slytherin?” and Sirius was suddenly reminded that it had been James who had hated Slytherins, and Harry still barely knew what Hogwarts was.

When Harry was six, Sirius started teaching him to play Quidditch. He wanted Harry to play Chaser, because James had played Chaser, but Harry had no interest in the quaffle. Instead, he chased after the toy snitch—it was bewitched to fly slower and lower to the ground than a normal snitch, and Harry caught it easily, over and over again. Every time Harry caught it, he would giggle so hard he fell right off his toy broom, and then he would let go of the snitch and stand up, ready to catch it again. Eventually, after trying and failing to bring Harry’s attention back to playing Chaser, Sirius abandoned the quaffle in the grass, and joined Harry in chasing after the snitch.

When Harry was seven, Sirius was tucking him into bed, when Harry mentioned something he had thought of while playing with Draco. “Everyone else calls their parents Dad, but I call you Padfoot. Can I call you Dad too?” Sirius froze for a moment—he had raised Harry, he loved him just like a son, but Sirius was just his godfather. James was supposed to be Dad, his real father. He opened his mouth to say no, that it would be disrespectful to the memory of his friend, but Harry’s eyes were big and green and hopeful, and Sirius could only nod.

When Harry was eight, Sirius and Remus took him to Diagon Alley for an afternoon. In a bookstore, they ran into Severus Snape, and Remus made Sirius take Harry to the children’s section to avoid getting into a fight. As Remus continued to browse books unperturbed, Sirius glared at Snape from across the store, at one point muttering, “What a greasy git.” Sirius expected a laugh and another, even ruder insult, because that’s what he would’ve gotten from James. Instead, he turned to see Harry’s eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed in an expression Sirius could not recall ever seeing on James, or even on Lily. Before Sirius could ask what was wrong, Harry said, in a voice that quite resembled Remus when he was angry, “That’s not very nice!” and turned away to look back at the bookshelves. And Sirius was reminded that Harry was not harsh like James had been, and he didn’t have a temper like Lily—he was kind, even to complete strangers, and he was much more forgiving, even when the people around him weren’t kind at all.

When Harry was eleven, he stood on Platform 9 and ¾, kind of nervous but mostly excited to finally go to Hogwarts. Sirius bent down to hug his son goodbye, and looking into Harry’s eyes, he suddenly realized that he did not see the shadow of Lily in them. And when he looked at Harry’s messy hair, and nose, and round glasses, Sirius did not see the ghost of James. Instead, he saw his just son—just Harry, who was kind and selfless and often forgot to think things through before acting. And when Sirius saw Harry, he didn’t love him because of who his parents had been—but for who Harry had become.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! This is the first fanfiction that I've ever written. Please feel free to leave constructive criticism, or suggestions of other things you'd want me to write about.


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